Academy NotesAcademy NotesThe Newsletter of Bay Cove Academy

Volume 8, Number 1 • Winter 2007

BAYCOVE156 Lawton Street • Brookline MA • 02446

S t u d e n t C o u n c i l E v e n t s - C a r e e r D e v e l o p m e n t

U p d a t e s - N o t e s f r o m t h e C l a s s r o o m - S t u d e n t

W r i t i n g a n d A r t

I n T h i s I s s u e :

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B a y C o v e S t u d e n t s F i n d S u c c e s s I n t h e W o r k p l a c eby Carrie Nelson, Bay Cove Career Counselor

Bay Cove Academy has a nationally recog-nized, award-winning Career Development Program that matches its high school stu-dents with paid community-based intern-ships. “We work very hard to ensure that a student’s first work experience is posi-tive. That is why we individualize our job placements with students and match them with qualified and caring supervisors,” says Kathleen Pignone, the Coordinator of Ca-reer Development. When Devon, a Bay Cove Academy sophomore, expressed an interest in learning skilled crafts and light construction, his career counselor con-tacted Ralph Sinacola, the Director of Bay Cove’s Property Department. Though the Property Department had never hosted a student intern, Ralph was able to carve out a job description for Devon that included learning to hang windows, building furni-ture, and performing repairs.

For the past nine months Devon has been working twice a week in the Property Department at Canal Street’s main office, under the supervision of Leo Daley and is happy to help with tasks large and small. Devon explains, “You’ll never hear me complain about my job; this is preparing me for life. The skills I learn at work are the ones I need, because this is what I want to do when I graduate. And the guys I work with know that whatever they ask me to do, I’ll get it done.” Devon was recently named Bay Cove Academy’s Employee of the Month, due to his dedication and enthusiasm for his job.

S t u d e n t s R a i s e M o n e y f o r T o y s f o r T o t sby Jaime HeidtmanThis year, the student council developed a proposal: if students donated 300 school store points (the equivalent of $3.00) on a given Friday in December in exchange for wearing a doo-rag or a hat for the day, that money would go directly to buy toys that would be donated to Toys for Tots. Students were very generous, and donated more than $100 toward the cause. Bay Cove Academy matched this amount, resulting in $200 worth of toys for children. Students were very proud of their charitable efforts. Student Council Clerk Axel Gonzalez, who spear-headed this project, says of the fundraiser, “I just thought it was really great to raise money for kids who don’t have families or toys. Everybody should have a good Christmas.”

Above: BCA Students Johnny, Imani, Sean, Axel, Tiffanee and Hygor present their donations to the Toys for Tots program

W r i t i n g C l a s s & A r t C l a s s C o l l a b o r a t eby Jaime HeidtmanThis fall, students in Writing Class explored folktales, reading different types from all around the world. They learned that folktales are often fantastical, magic stories that are passed down from generation to generation in or-der to teach some sort of lesson, moral, or explanation.

Art teacher Alison Hodge and Writing teacher Jaime Heidtman decided to carry the folktales over to another discipline. In Art class, students in Group A worked to translate their folktales into visual form. Students chose three key scenes from their folktales and illus-trated, painted, or collaged them. Below is an excerpt from student Shawn Mulcahy's folktale, and a picture he drew:

BAYCOVE

For more information on how inter-program collaboration can meet your needs, or how you can provide an intern-ship experience for a young person, please contact Kathleen Pignone at (617) 739-1794 x.228.

S t u d e n t s F l o u r i s h i n J o b s , T a l k t o C o l l e g e s , a n d J o b S h a d o wby Jaime HeidtmanMany students at Bay Cove continue to work at jobs and re-ceive school credit for the time they are there. Current job sites include Smiles Daycare in Roxbury, Hadassah Bargain Spot in Brookline, Mercy Corp International Human Services, Boomerangs (thrift store) in Jamaica Plain, Small World Child-care in Jamaica Plan, Boston Rescue Mission, and Community Servings; two students also work on campus, assisting in the library, the kitchen, and with maintenance duties.

In November, the Career Development Department sponsored a career fair in which students had the opportunity to speak with and ask questions of a variety of colleges in the Greater Bos-ton area. Colleges that attended were Wentworth Tech, Blaine Beauty School, Johnson & Wales University, Ritop, Career Source, and Teri College Access Center. Bay Cove students did a great job asking questions of these schools and many now have better ideas about careers, certificates, and degrees

There was so much chaos in this world. So much that Shark and Huntress were working nonstop. Then one day, King Kamehameha called for them. It was during the middle of the night. He said it was a very important issue. That it must be addressed right now.He said, “It’s about the ultimate secret microchip. The bad guy stole it,” and “at any cost, you must get it back.” So off Shark and Huntress went to get it back. The next thing they knew, they were at an evil lair.Errol asks questions about colleges in the Greater Boston Area.

Devon working hard alongside his boss, Leo Daley.

they’d like to pursue in the future. Says Bay Cove senior Elizabeth Perez, "It was a good experience. It gave me more options to think about and helped me decide what I want to be doing later in life.".

On January 31 Bay Cove students participated in Job Shadow Day, a national program designed to give young people an up-close look at the world of work. Students enjoyed the opportunity to observe profes-sionals in careers they might be interested in pursuing and received valuable hands-on experience. After a day with the Graphic Artists at Boston Baked Bean, students remarked on their surprise at the amount of work it took to be an artist, but were also surprised to learn that “any-one could do it.” Students shadowed professionals at Argus Communication, Bay Cove Human Services IT Department, Boston Baked Bean, Boston Magazine, BNN TV, and NESN.

BAYCOVE

Bay Cove Academy is a chapter 766 ap-proved day treatment school for troubled teens from the Boston area. Gifts to the school are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Your gift will directly

help enhance our program. Please mail your contribution today.

Please Remember Bay Cove Academy This Tax Season !

Amount Enclosed

Other$100

$250$500

M a t h N e w sby Michelle Eckert

Math so far this year has been very productive! Each class has been working diligently to learn many concepts. Group A is wrapping up a unit on decimals, percents, and frac-tions. Group B has explored a variety of geometric concepts; they recently completed a project about geometry and architecture and about to begin another on advertising. Group C did a great job this year working collabora-tively to develop the steps necessary to solve multi-step equations. Lastly, Math Projects has been exploring the engineering process and applying their

E n g l i s h N e w sby Chris Labbe

The English classes have been ex-ploring the world of literature. All groups started the year learning about the short story, then moved onto indi-vidual novels. Group A read Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck, Group B read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, and Group C read The Giver by Lois Lowry. The classes have now moved onto a unit on plays – Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare for Group A, Fences by August Williams for Group B, and Hamlet by William Shakespeare for Group C.

S c i e n c e N e w sby Evan Nabel

Science classes have been busy learning about the world. Through-out the fall and early winter, the sci-ence classroom has focused on three content areas: Astronomy, Ecology, and Human Biology. One highlight in the classroom included the As-tronomy group’s solar-system-to-scale project. Using an entire wall, we made a 20-foot-long model of our solar system that showed the planets’ sizes, and distances from the sun to scale.

H i s t o r y N e w sby Ann Ambiel

The History classes at Bay Cove, have been exploring a variety of topics. Civics class has learned about the Constitution and the Su-preme Court. Ancient Civilizations

W r i t i n g N e w sby Jaime Heidtman

Writing Class students started the year searching for the etymol-ogy of their names, and writing about what their names mean to them. Later in the fall, they ex-plored folktales and wrote their own. After that, students began a persuasive writing unit in which they made protest posters, wrote letters, and wrote essays about the driving age (if it should be raised or not in Massachusetts). Later, they wrote editorials about topics of their choice, and are currently working on writing commercials and public service announce-ments.

Left: Students work on editorials in Writing Class; Above: Liz launches her rocket in Math Projects.

knowledge to real-world, hands-on projects. They’ve built kites, catapults, egg-drop devices, and mouse-trap cars. Students have excelled this year in their exploration of math!

has been learning about worlds of the past, beginning with Japan and Egypt, and later moving onto the Aztecs, Incas & Mayas. As part of their unit on Egypt, they mummified oranges to learn about the process done to the pharaohs. Modern His-tory focused about World War I and has been reading the novel Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. Psychology class has been learning about stress and anger manage-ment.

BAYCOVE

Bay Cove Academy156 Lawton StreetBrookline MA 02446

www.baycove.org/academy

March 9 Midterm 23 No School (Staff Professional Day)April 6 End of Term 3 9 Begin Term 4 16-20 Vacation WeekMay 18 Midterm 28 Memorial Day June 14 Graduation 15 End of Term 4 25 Begin Summer Term

U p c o m i n g E v e n t s

Don’t Tear Down Good Parks in Boston

a n e d i t o r i a l b y D e v a n t e H i l l ,

B a y C o v e S t u d e n t

As I walk through the parks of Dorchester and Roxbury, I see that the environment is already tightened up and fixed to look pretty for chil-dren and members of the community. They should not tear down parks in Boston that are already in good condition.

While I understand that the City of Boston wants the community to look good, the courts are just fine the way they are. If workmen are always working there, kids can’t play there.

If they are going to tear the parks down, they should do it when the weather is not good, so they can work constantly. If they do it before the good weather it will get done, and people can use it. Also, tearing down basketball courts and building new ones is expensive. Workers need to be paid, landlords need to be paid, and the money they spend on new courts could be spent on roads. They should not tear down parks in Boston that are already in good condition. AN

Published by Amy Ward & Jaime Heidtman